Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ARENACROSS " Rounds 1·2: Memorial Center AMAlPJ1N TIONA A L ARENACROSS SERIES -----''---(Above) Jeff Willoh (48) grab s the holes hot en route to winning the 125cc tinal on Saturday night in rouna two of the AMAlPJ l Arenacross Series in Des Moines. (Left)C had Peders on won the opening 125cc final on Friday night and currently sits second in the champions hip standings after a very co ns istent weekend. By Dave Deringer Photos by Kinney Jones DES MOINES, IA.NOV. 6-7 t was a gr eat w ay to sta rt off the 15th year of Arenacross raci ng as fou r separa te rid ers took a win in th e AM A / PP Nationa l Aren acro ss Series o pene r, h eld at th e Memorial Center in Des Moin es. For native Iow an Chad Pederson and Minnesota'sHeath Voss, it was mem orable. Pederso n started off the week end on his Pr imal Impulse /Bill' s Pipes /Shiftba cked Su zuki w it h a bi g wi n in Fri00 da y's 125cc main. A second -place finish 0\ behind Voss later that nigh t on the 250cc 0\ ,...... Suzuki had Pederson smiling from ear LD to ear. He cap ped off his weekend wit h a nother podium finish on Saturday, a N l-< third in the 125cc main. (J) "I just wa nt to try to stay as consistent ..0 as poss ible and keep pulling away with S that points lead," Ped erson said . "I gave (J) :> it away one yea r, then last yea r it just O · didn't wo rk ou t. Prima l Impul se Suzuki is working really hard with me and giving me a lo t o f su pport and they have faith in me, and that's all that matt ers ." I A B ,~ Z 6 For Voss, it was just ano the r great weeken d of results, lik e th ose he ha s seen throu gh out m o st of th e 19.98 mot ocross season. It all s tarted w it h a third-place finish in Friday' s 125cc fina l, backed up with a win in the 250cc race . Saturd ay was a lmost as good fo r th e Grea t Lakes Ai rlines /Factory Co nnection /Bill's Pipes-sp on sor ed rid er, as he finishe d fourth in th e 125cc final and seco nd in the 250cc con test. He carries the point lead goi ng in to ro unds three and four ove r Peder son , 69-65. "I love these battles," sai d Voss of the tw o-ni ght event. "That's w hy I come ou t here. Races like these are a lot more fun than an easy on e I can wi n." When as ked if he wo uld continue to compete in the series sin ce he carries the point lead , Voss responded : "This tim e o f yea r, 1 lik e to sp en d as much tim e with my family and friends in Minnesota as I can. I'll do Rockford in December, but starting in January I'll be on the road . for 28 weeks straigh t, so no, 1doubt it." FRIDAY Ca rro ll ton Kawas a k Lco m /M SR / Su ns tar-b acked Greg Rand sto le th e show early in the evening, winning his 125cc and 250cc heat races comfortably. He later ca me o u t and won th e S BS Dash For Cas h, proving that he wi ll be a force in the series . Jeff Will oh nail ed th e holes hot aboard his new TUF Hon da / Thor / Pro Circu it-backed rid e in the 125cc final, followed closely by Ped erso n and Voss. Ped erson took over th e p oint co min g o u t of turn two a nd s a id goodbye . Will oh held d ow n second for se vera l la p s before Aren a cross vetera ns Cliff Palmer a nd j eremy Bueh l mot or ed by. Vo s s a ls o s lipped back in the earl y goi ng, and on th e cha rge was reigning PJ1 A re nac ross C h a m p io n 'Bu d dy An tunez aboard h is Pr im al Impu lse / Bill's Pipes / Shift-backed Suzu ki. Around the halfway poi nt of the 16lap fina l, Palme r hit the d eck hard in the rocker s while run nin g second . Buehl , who was on Pa lme r' s rear fender , was sucked into the downed Kawasaki rider, ad d ing to the carnage. Antu nez u sed the cras h to propel hi mself in to second p lace be hi nd th e now lo ng-go ne Ped ers on. Voss a n d Will oh mo ved int o th ir d a nd fo u r th , w hile Team G ree n Ka w a saki /FM F / SMP-mou n te d Mik e Jo nes lurk ed in fifth. Wit h several laps remaining, the final pa s s wou ld b e m ad e b y Jones, as he tri p led ove r Will oh int o fou rth, bein g o ne of on ly a chose n fe w to tr y th e tripl e-tripl e sec tion on a 125. Ped ers on took a co m fo r ta b le a n d crow d- p leas ing w in ove r teammate Ant unez and Hond a-mou nted Voss. "I had th e ve ry ou tsi de g a te, b u t some ho w it wo rked out good for me," Pederson sai d of his near-p erfect win. "That's the way to start a seaso n am" "I go t th ro u gh e v e ryb od y prett y good, bu t I go t tigh t once I go t into sec- on d. " said ru n ner-up Antu nez . "My b ike is wo rkin g grea t and the trac k is awes ome. " "I rod e co nse rva tive, but " II be up there in the next one," Voss commen ted of the u pcoming 250cc final. Banz ai Su zuk i /Xt rem e /Wise co backed Tom Ho fmas ter nailed the start of the 250cc final a head of Voss, Power Motor sports / Dunlop / Rent hal-su p ported To dd DeHoo p and TUF Ho nda 's Denn y Stephenso n. In only his second year as Pro, Hofmaster look ed good ou t fron t, ho ldi ng the lead for th ree laps before succumbing to the stars of the spo rt. First it was Vo ss w ho moved by; then it was Jones, onc e aga in tri pli ng ov er th e a ma zed Ho frn a st er, who watched hi s p er fect start slip away . Voss started to p u ll away th e next few laps , but Jones kept the 250cc specialis t in sight for so me time. Pederson , who sta rted mid pack , was up to fifth beh ind Hofmaster and Del-loop , and he was moving in. By lap 10, th e halfway mark o f th e 250cc final, Voss had Jones all over him . Jones again u sed his kn owledge of the trick y tripl e-triple section to set up Voss. After d oing the sec tion perfectly, Jones block-passed Voss in the next corn er to move in to the lead. Voss swa p ped his line coming ou t of the co rner and the two mot or ed d own th e fro nt stra ig ht side by side into the sweeping first tu rn. Voss had had enough of Jon es and regained the lead one turn later after the ro cke rs . Jon es, w it h his never -say-d ie approach, w ent a fte r V oss again a nd h eld hi s bike w ide open throu gh th e rockers two laps lat er a nd moved- into th e lead while Voss was d ealing with lappers. Voss retaliated again one turn I later with another well-executed blockpa ss and sealed his lead for good . I With only a few laps remaining, Pederson wa s now up to the lead pack of! Vos s a n d Jon e s, as th eir ba tt le had slowed them down. Ped erso n used the ro ckers' to hi s a dv a n tag e and he motored by the tirin g Jones for second . Voss took a solid win in front of Pederson and Jones . TU F Ho nda's [er om y Bueh l an d Team G ree n / Pro Ci rc ui t / I Fox-spon sored Jeff Gibson had quiet but stro ng rid es, finishing fourt h and fifth. I

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